New Teachers in the Upper School

We all know there are new teachers here in the Upper School, but do you really know them? If you answered no, you should keep reading, and if you answered yes, you should still keep reading, as some of these tidbits are quite random.

Ms. Anna Callahan, PE

Ms. Callahan is a Hannah-Montana-loving PE teacher who has wanted to teach since she was in the third grade. She said that her “teacher at the time was so encouraging,” which impacted her decision to become a gym teacher. The reason Ms. Callahan chose to apply for the job at HB was because of the community and the people here. Ms. Callahan particularly chose to take part in softball, tennis, and basketball. She has decided that she most relates to Tiana from Princess and the Frog because she is a hard worker, yet she also relates to a moose. She loves Rock Star from Hannah Montana, and found it very fun to watch. She said her favorite Jonas was Joe, but then she remembered Nick and changed her mind. Ms. Callahan hates the sound of Styrofoam rubbing together. Lastly, her most embarrassing moment was when she was a waitress at TGIFridays, and instead of informing a customer that his plate was hot, she told him that he was very hot.

Ms. Samantha Sandmann, PE

Apart from the obvious, a super awesome name, Ms. Sandmann went to school to pursue a career as a physical trainer. However, she steered away from that path, began coaching a soccer team, and fell in love with teaching. She said that the thing that drew her to HB the most was the atmosphere of the school and the students. Ms. Sandmann loves to teach PE because it is satisfying to see kids step out of their comfort zones to try new things and, “I get to be a goof all day!” She played many sports while she was in school including, soccer, cross-country, track, and rugby. The movie character she relates to the most is Merida, from Brave because she “goes to the beat of her own drum.” She also relates to an elephant because they get stuff done and they are “gentle giants.” Unfortunately, Ms. Sandmann doesn’t know what Hannah Montana is, but her favorite member of the Jonas Brothers in definitely Nick. Her number one pet peeve is when people smack their gum while talking or if they don’t look at her when they are talking. Her most embarrassing moment happened when she was in 8th grade; she had to use the Porta-Potty and constantly feared that a spider would come up from inside the toilet. One unfortunate day, a spider actually did come up from inside the toilet “mid-stream,” so she jumped up, causing her to pee all over her shorts, which she had to wear for the rest of practice.

Ms. Trent Maverick, Computer Science

Ms. Maverick is a Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer-loving Computer Science (CS) teacher at HB. She originally did not want to teach, but dreamed about working in a record store, for a record label, at a book publishing company, or playing in a band. She first became interested in Computer Science when she was in her senior year of college; she took a CS class and really enjoyed it. She thought that it “would be nice to go back and teach CS to younger people so they could find out if it was something they liked before they got to be a senior in college and couldn’t major in it anymore.” She was attracted to HB because she grew up around here so she has always known about it, and she worked in an all girls’ middle school in California where she liked the environment. She also wanted to see more girls doing CS because it is very “male dominated.” She claims that the best part of Computer Science is that you are expected to fail. Ms. Maverick believes that she most resembles Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer because he is a “badass vampire,” he is too cool, and secretly has a crush on the main character. She also says she relates to weasels because of the way that they move. She used to be a major runner, participating in Cross Country and Track, and she hates it when people are addicted to their phones and go on them when she is talking to them. Her most embarrassing moment (recently) was mixing up two students last names when they had the same first name.

Mr. Marty Frazier, English

Mr. Frazier is an energetic addition to the English department here at HB. Mr. Frazier has always known that he wanted to teach. He said that he can remember as early as fifth grade how he loved the feeling of getting up in front of the class to show off his math skills and everything else that he knew. However, what drew him towards English was the ability to connect with classmates, and yourself, using literature. What drew Mr. Frazier to HB was the quality of work he saw being done by the students with things like Retrospect (woohoo!), the colleagues he gets to work and collaborate with every day, and the ability to “help each other to grow as teachers.” What he loves about English is that there is always something to learn, and that he is learning more about books through the discussions. Mr. Frazier swam in school, participating in the 200 and the 500. He wasn’t sure if this song existed, but his favorite song by “Hannah Montana” is “The Climb.” His favorite Jonas Brother is Nick, or “the one on ‘Scream Queens.’” The animal he relates to the most is the golden doodle, and after a long time of deciding, he chose Mr. Feeny as the TV show character he relates to the most. His most embarrassing moment was when he broke his leg at prom during his junior year after being pushed in a bouncy castle, and his number one pet peeve is when students pack up before the bell or leave trash on the floor.